Sennheiser IE8

NicktheNorse

NicktheNorse

NicktheNorse

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
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Oslo, Norway
Anyone heard anything about these new dynamic IEMs? Street price is around £200 (so up against the Triple.fi 10s and SE530s) and sound quality is reportedly up there in terms of soundstage, presentation and clarity. Tonally they are supposed to lie in between the Shures (quite low-end heavy, rolled off highs) and the Triple.fis (treble-happy), but with excellent bass due to the dynamic driver (as opposed to the three separate armatures in the other makes).

The fit of my triple.fis is annoying me as they are nowhere near comfortable enough so am looking at selling them (even though I adore the sound they produce) and picking up a pair of IE8s.
 
well no, not right now id say as there are no reviews kicking about on them yet, unless you live near somewhere that will let you have a listen to them first. im sure they must sound good but if i was you id go with the known entity ie the 530's, but then i love my pair, great sound and uber comfy.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/se...can-they-replace-my-shures-302637/index2.html

has a guy comment about his pair and he doesnt sound overly impressed, also if its just the fit your not happy with your TF10's then have u tried foam tips for them, apparently they make a big improvement comfort wise
 
I'm using my Triple.fis with complys. Massive improvement in comfort but still make my ears sore after a while.

I'm not too big a fan of the SE530s - the lack of treble make them sound muffled to me and they hiss loads with an ipod!

I'm not looking at the IE8s in order to move up a step in SQ - I want to maintain the SQ and sidestep into a world of uber comfort :)
 
lol, well then i think you have exhausted all i know in the IE8's, lol save me going and buying a pair which is actually remarkably tempting

nooooo, must resist temptation, must resist.......... lol
 
So after being massively let down by the Westone 3s (horrible over powering mid bass and extremely sibilant and plasticky highs) I've gotten a pair of IE8s to compare to my current TF10s.

A few initial impressions:

Right off bat the first thing I noticed was the mid-bass hump - it was quite overpowering and made everything seem very muddy. The next thing I noticed was the shrillness of the treble. Reminded me very much of the W3 treble which to my ears was very poor (with all but the triple-flange tips) and made high hats sound plasticky. The low bass was very powerful in quantity, but certainly not quality.

So, off to a bad start.

I've now got a lowly 20 hours of burn in and they are very different indeed. Mid-bass is still strong, but not overpowering. Low bass is starting to control itself as well. The best difference for me is the treble - very similar to my TF10s in terms of quality and texture, just a little quieter in relation to the rest of the sound presentation. High hats sound very good (though that does compare to my TF10s which I would describe as excellent). I'm excited to hear the IE8s after a few more days of burning in.
 
I was reading up to see if there were any better non-custom IEM's out there than my TF10's, but it seems as if I'd be better off sticking with them, as I do think the sound quality is superb, but the fit could be a lot better, although the L-R mod does make a big difference.

I look forward to another review in a few weeks mate.:)
 
mark2410 said:
big kev, if it help i think the se530 is quite a bit better than the triple.fi
Click to expand...

I went from the E500's to the TF10's and I prefer the triple.fi's.

The highs on the Shure's are just too lacking for me, although I do miss the comfort side of things.

NicktheNorse said:
Listening to SE530s makes me feel like an old man whose lost the top end of his hearing ability (crappy treble)!!
Click to expand...

That's very freaky, as my old man, who does have hearing problems, just sold his SE530's and ordered some TF10's.:eek:
 
I've had IE8's for a couple of months, so well burned in, I upgraded from E500's (SE530), I had TF10 before that.

If isolation, comfort and midrange (which is still the best out there) is your thing then get SE530's, there the best rock IEM's going imo. Bare in mind that the cables still go on these despite there meant to have fixed the issue. I sold my se530's that I had as a RMA replacement from my e500's for this reason, as I was out of warranty.

For ultimate sound quality the IE8's are best, especially for dance music, the bass, soundstage and general fullness of the sound is just unbelievable, but I find isolation really poor on my walk to work (through Bristol city centre), and comfort isn't a patch on se530's + black olives.

As for TF10 I find the sound isn't as good as IE8's and there comfort and fit isn't as good as se530's so I would discount them altogether. In fact I found them a massive disappointment when I upgraded from my sf5p's which I thought were absolutely fantastic, and still do despite there obvious short comings their still a really fun IEM.
 
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I've had my Westone 3's for about a month now and think they're better than the E500 and the triple.fi's, as the bass is as good as the Shure's, but with far better treble, although this isn't as good as the clarity of the triple's.

I also find them very comfortable and once I get some custom moulds, the sound and comfort should improve again.

Bigsy, did you find the sound actually improving over time, as I've read that the IE8's do seem to improve quite a bit after a decent, 200+ hours, burn in.
 
The sound has definitely improved, but I wouldn't like to pin that on burn in. I have had trouble finding tips that fit me, and this is coming from someone that super fi's fitted great on.

I like shure black olives and was using some hollowed out ones on the IE8's but something wasn't quite right with them, finally found some decent bi-flanges that sealed great but are a tad uncomfortable. IE8's only weakness is ergonomics imo, but I'm learning to adapt to them.

So in summary, yes they have improved a lot, but it could be down to tips and me turning the bass knob down to minimum (which is still more bass than I've ever heard from any other IEM) as I didn't realise it wasn't all the way down as its a bit hard to tell without actually moving it.
 
yeah the ie's have a lot of fit issues, i myself went for the ie7 insteadof the 8 to avoid thebass knob and its meant to have amore natural sound yet i still find it has a bit much bass. but anyway all the included tips i found were crap, but on fleaybay i found some froma chap in singapore and they worked wonders. fit is v impartant with them
 
After some reading on head-fi and your replies guys, I think I’ll go with IE8. Still a lot to read lol, mahoosive 200+ pages tread.
With all those issues (cable and grand pa sounding SE530, comfort and fit TF10) I can’t buy without auditioning them first which is really difficult.
I own Denon C700 and I like them. Some people on head-fi says C700 sound signature some how similar to IE8 as they both dynamic. But my wife likes Denons even more, so I need second pair now hehe. I’m listen mostly electronic music so think IE8 will be ideal for me. And I think I can’t find anything better in this price range in UK.
 
Ricochet, i'd be really interested to hear your thoughts if you do buy them. I currently have a pair of Denon C751's and have been looking at the IE8's. Trying to resist as they cost a fair wack :(

Have got upgraditus quite bad though ha ha

Adam
 
Yeah, I will buy them for sure, but can’t do nothing till Tuesday lol. Waiting wages to hit my account. Also shame overclockers don’t sell Sennheisers anymore, can’t find decent online retailers with decent price who got them in stock.
 
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